Deeply In You by Sharon Page Page B

herself into this and take every risk she could. She lifted to him, aching in her breasts, aching between her thighs, on fire everywhere.
    Then, as if a devil had taken control of her, she whispered into his mouth. Words he couldn’t hear. But words that terrified her, even as she knew— knew with all her soul—she meant them. I want you, she whispered into his hot, beautiful mouth. I need you. Please. Ruin me.
    Greybrooke eased back from her mouth, breaking the kiss.
    Oh no. No! Please, please, please don’t stop.
    He rose off her, splaying his hands on the bed for balance as he got to his knees, then shifted so he sat on the edge of his bed. His eyes were the ones closed now, his long lashes brushing his sculpted cheeks.
    Helena gaped at him, suddenly feeling . . . lost. What had she said? God, she remembered.
    Ruin me.
    At least she had said it into his mouth, not anywhere he could hear her, but the reality of what she’d been willing to do left her shaking.
    But why had he been so reluctant to kiss her? His kiss had been magnificent .
    His eyes opened. “Did the kiss please you?” His breathing was oddly harsh.
    “Yes. I don’t understand why you said you weren’t ready to kiss. You—you kiss like a god.” This is what she would do with a shy or uncertain child. Give reassurance.
    But how could she be equating the rakish Duke of Greybrooke with a vulnerable boy?
    His deep laugh rumbled over her. But he said, softly, “This is not going to work for me. The sex I desire is quite different from what you’ve been lead to expect from a marriage bed. I want more than that. I want a deeper connection with you. What I want with you, Miss Winsome, will entwine our souls.”
    That stunned her. “But—”
    “But what, Miss Winsome?”
    She had to understand. “But when you left Lady Montroy’s house, you seemed as if you did not care about her at all. I would not have said your souls were entwined.”
    “My affair with her was pure recreation. With you, it will have to be something deeper.” He stroked his fingertip over her lower lip. “There is danger in that.”
    The touch made her mouth tingle, aching for another kiss.
    She realized she had not really touched him yet. She—well, she wasn’t supposed to, and she’d been afraid of encouraging him. But now she saw that every time she could have touched him, when they’d been sharing a moment of some sort of intimacy, he’d captured her hands so she could not.
    Why?
    “What danger?” Was he speaking of love? She was not the sort of governess who pretended knowledge she did not have—she was an honest one. “Do you mean love?”
    A rueful smile touched his lips. “I’m not capable of it, Miss Winsome.”
    “How could you not be capable of love? You might not want to fall in love, but you are obviously capable of it. Look how wonderful an uncle you are.”
    “With children, I am very careful not to let my darkness touch them in any way.”
    “I thought you were a careless and carefree rake.”
    “You are the most intriguingly blunt woman I’ve ever met.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, I cannot see you tomorrow night.”
    She knew why—it was the night he was to meet the blackmailer.
    “Meet me at the bottom of the mews at midnight on the night after that,” he said. “Before you consent to my arrangement, you must understand exactly what I will require of you.”
    “Why won’t you tell me?”
    “I’d frighten you, I fear. Seeing it will help you understand.”
    It would frighten her? “But you gave me the shackles,” she said helplessly. “Surely, if you can do that, you can describe what you want me to do . . .” She took a deep breath. “How could it be worse?”
    “From my point of view—” He grinned. “It’s better. But still I want you to be an observer with no preconceptions.” He stood up.
    Suddenly, panic flared. He was going to send her home. This was her chance to search his home, and it was slipping through her